Ұлыбритания Корольдік Әскер-теңіз флотының A3 суасты қайығының тарихы

A class submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS A3 was an submarine built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She sank in 1912. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

A3 was a member of the first British class of submarines, although slightly larger, faster and more heavily armed than the lead ship, The submarine had a length of 105 feet (32 m) overall, a beam of 12 feet (4 m) and a mean draft of 10 feet (3 m). They displaced on the surface and submerged. The A class submarines had a crew of 2 officers and 9 ratings. For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 16 cylinder Wolseley petrol engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, A3 had a range of at ; the boat had a range of at submerged. The boats were armed with two 18 inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They could carry a pair of reload torpedoes, but generally did not as doing so that they had to compensate for their weight by an equivalent weight of fuel.

A3 was laid down by Vickers, Sons & Maxim as Yard No.295 at Barrow in Furness on 6 November 1902 and was launched on 9 May 1903. She was commissioned on 13 July 1904. Its rudder and propeller were both disabled, and the holed submarine sank immediately with all 14 hands lost. The King sent his immediate condolences to the families of the lost seamen. After being towed from Portsmouth to Portland Naval Dockyard, the wreck was towed offshore into Weymouth Bay and, after some technical experiments on the hull, it was sunk as a gunnery target by shells from on 17 May 1912. In July 2016 the wreck of A3 was officially designated as a protected site.